A £5.9M study led by The James Hutton Institute and partners will uncover how pathogens cause crop diseases like potato blight.
Pests and diseases threaten approximately 25% of global food production annually. This 5-year project aims to tackle an invisible war threatening global food production.
This £5.9M study unites world-leading experts to uncover how the haustorium forms and how pathogens manipulate it. Using advanced molecular, biochemical, and cell biology tools, the team aims to reveal how these interactions occur. This research could pave the way for innovative solutions to protect potatoes and other vital crops from disease, according to a press release.
“These infection structures present a real and present danger to crops that are staples of our diet,” said Professor Paul Birch, Professor of Plant Pathology, at the University of Dundee, and the study lead.
“This is a truly exciting opportunity to make major advances in our understanding of how these key infection structures are formed and function. The funding will consolidate the UK’s leading position in this research area. The understanding that is likely to emerge from our studies will provide new ways to prevent diseases that threaten global food security.”
Fungal and oomycete pathogens, like Phytophthora infestans, pose major challenges. This pathogen causes potato blight, a devastating disease responsible for the Irish Potato Famine in the 1800s. Fast-evolving Phytophthora strains continue to overcome resistant potato varieties, demanding new strategies for control.
“Our success will depend on understanding how pathogens manipulate host plants to gain entry and establish haustoria inside living plant cells,” said Dr. Sebastian Schornack, who leads a research group at SLCU investigating plant interactions with fungi and oomycetes. “Various molecular exchanges between the plant and pathogen influence the plant’s susceptibility or resistance and identifying how pathogens subvert the plant’s immune defences will be crucial.”
Phytophthora infects plants by forming a structure called the haustorium inside living plant cells. This structure becomes a battleground: the pathogen delivers virulence proteins to attack, while the plant produces defense molecules. The outcome — successful infection or plant resistance — depends on this molecular exchange.
